Paper is widely used to display and record information. Printed information is easier to read than information displayed on a computer screen. Hand-drawing and handwriting afford greater richness of expression than input via a computer keyboard and mouse. Moreover, paper doesn't run on batteries, can be read in bright light, more robustly accepts coffee spills, and is portable and disposable.
Online publication has many advantages over traditional paper-based publication. From a consumer's point of view, information is available on demand, information can be navigated via hypertext links, searched and automatically personalized.
From the publisher's point of view, the costs of printing and physical distribution are eliminated, and the publication becomes more attractive to the advertisers who pay for it because it can be targeted to specific demographics and linked to product sites. Online publication also has disadvantages. Computer screens are inferior to paper. At the same quality as a magazine page, an SVGA computer screen displays only about a fifth as much information. Both CRTs and LCDs have brightness and contrast problems, particularly when ambient light is strong, while ink on paper, being reflective rather than emissive, is both bright and sharp in ambient light.